Thetownend.com

OK, fat arse here stood on his laptop and smashed it's lovely WUXGA screen. Beleive it or not it was a genuine accident before anyone asks

Insurance will pay out up to £500 rather than repair (?!), but only in PC/World/Curries vouchers (sob)

So looking on their site, opinions on this. I guess I can live without :

Anyway £499.98:

Acer Aspire 5735-644 15.6" Laptop
    *  Intel Core 2 Duo processor T5800
    * (2.0 GHz, 800 MHz FSB, 2MB Cache)
    * Windows Vista Home Premium
    * 4GB memory
    * 500 GB Hard Drive
    * Built-in webcam
    * DVD RW SuperMulti Double Layer
    * 15.6" Screen
    * Mobile Intel GM45 Express Graphics Card
    * 3 USB Connections

OR £499.99
TOSHIBA L300-20F Laptop
    *  Intel Pentium Dual Core Processor T3400
    * (2.16 GHz, 667 MHz, L2 1MB Cache)
    * Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium Ope
    * 3GB mb Memory Size
    * 320 Gb Hard Drive Capacity
    * DVD-SuperMulti Dual Layer Optical Drives
    * 17" TFT WXGA TruBrite Screen Size/Type
    * Mobile Intel GMA 4500M Graphics Card
    * 1340 mb Graphics Memory
    * Intergrated Stereo Sound Type

   Also does anyone know if my Dell Inspiron 8600 will take a lower resolution screen, or is it BIOS locked to a 1920x1200 WUXGA. I may repair it for cheap if it will.

Hmm, the Acer seems slightly better spec but the Tosh has a bigger screen.

If it were me, I'd go with the Tosh.

I'd go with the Toshiba also, but only because I think the build quality would be better. Specs wise they're pretty similar. I'm amazed what you can get for 500 quid now.

Thanks.

I haven't looked at the HP and Hewlett Packards they have as I always regarded them as a bit turd. Is that too much of a sweeping generalisation?

Err... HP is Hewlett Packard.

I've had an HP and it was probably my favourite laptop, completely faultless. The old man has 2 of them and they're the same.

I've also owned 2 Acers over the years and i've always liked them because they're great value and no worse than say a Dell... ;)

I'd go with the Acer because it's a higher spec and a 17" screen makes for a large laptop. I personally won't use anything over 14" though, so am slightly biased.

And you can't quote either.

Bad day, Batch?

Yes,

or should that be

Acer support is pretty good as well. Last time I had to call them I told the guy what the problem was, he accepted my analysis straight away and sent out the parts for me to repair it.

Avoid Acer.

We've had loads of Acer laptops at work and they always go wrong after about 18 - 24 months.

Toshiba are always pretty solid, as are HP. See if you can get a Sony - I know before xmas PC Wank were doing a very good Sony for £499

If you do go with Toshiba, make sure you keep the driver CD's. Their website is fucking wank.

I wanted that Sony, but a friend explained that the outgoing models were strangely unreliable, so baring in mind Vista was going straight in the bin i didn't want to start having warranty/repair issues with a laptop full of cracked software. I love Sony though, i use one now and it's about 3 or 4 years old, and it's never skipped a beat.

I'd get the Acer as it will be faster.

As Si the Pie says......the Acer is a good 10-15% faster than the Tosh, bigger hard drive, more memory, yes it has a slower processor in Ghz speed but has a better FSB throughput so it will perform better.

And it has a better Johnny